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Sunday, July 26, 2015

I'm still working away at using up my samples stash but I am making progress. The pile is getting smaller and smaller every week. :)

Here are this weeks beauty products that were tested along with reviews for each. If you missed the original post on this challenge you can find it HERE.

Pantene Repair & Protect Shampoo and Conditioner
This product has a nice scent like most Pantene products. The product claims to repair 6 months of damage in just one use! That is a pretty big claim to live up to. Has it repaired 6 months of damage in one use? I wouldn't know how to gauge that. First, I'd need to know how much damage 6 months created? And, really, I have no idea. I didn't notice anything very special, but my hair did fair pretty well considering it's another rainy day here where I live. I still have some frizz, but not bad at all considering the weather. And, I did notice less shedding than with some other products. Maybe with continued use, and paired with other products from this range, I would see greater results. But, to my knowledge, damage cannot be repaired. It can be made to look and feel better, but not repaired... that's what trims are for. ;)

North American Hemp Co. Soak it Up Moisturising Shampoo & Conditioner
I really liked this shampoo and conditioner. It left my hair soft, smooth and easy to style. It really helped with my frizzies. I just wish I had more samples of this product so I could use it a while longer. Some of these more natural lines have some real hidden gems! I love the hair oil from this line that I found at Marshalls or Winners. I'm not sure where I can find this shampoo and conditioner but if I can find it and the price is right, I'll probably give it a go. It seems very gentle and nourishing for my dry and fragile hair.

Garnier Fructis Full & Plush Shampoo, Conditioner and Blow Out Treatment
The only thing good about this product was the smell. This product, hands down, gave me the most unmanageable, driest, frizziest hair out of everything I've tried! I had to stop blow drying as my hair became so tangled and out of control, it was impossible! Then I had to pile on oodles and oodles of hair oils to try and tame the beast that my hair had become! I think that this product may work for people with very fine, healthy, silky smooth hair who want volume. Maybe I would have been okay with just the shampoo and conditioner as the blowout treatment had a very strange, gummy-like texture that was difficult to spread throughout my hair. I doubt that I'll find out, unless somehow I get another sample of the shampoo and conditioner as I can say with certainty, I will NEVER buy this!

Here is a bit of the madness caused by the above product, and this was after blow drying with a round brush!! It was such a massive dried up mop that it took me 2 times as long to smooth it out with my Instyer. And, it was much worse in person than what you are seeing in this picture. My camera just couldn't capture the horror! Thanks Garnier!

After all this product testing, I'm sure my hair is like, "what the heck is going on!?"

This scrub has very few scrubbing granules so it's great for sensitive skin. I found it soothing and hydrating and it did a good job on my sensitive/reactive skin. I use Retin-A, so I need to use gentle products. I didn't have any breakouts and my skin was left softer. I would definitely consider purchasing this when I need a scrub. It's price well too.

I also tried a number of toothpaste samples over the last few weeks. I thought I'd spare you the details on this subject as it's not too exciting. That said, I will summarize by saying that after trying numerous new toothpaste formulas, the one that I like best is Sensodyne whitening plus tartar fighting. It left my teeth feeling the most clean and I did notice some whitening. For now though, I will continue to purchase my fluoride free toothpaste by Now foods on Iherb.com as I currently choose to stay away from fluoride.

That's it for this weeks trials and reviews. If you have a pile of samples as well, I hope this inspires you to work away at using them up and have some fun at the same time.